David Johnston backs Chuck Hagel: China destabilising South China Sea

Defence Minister David Johnston says the government is "very concerned" by China's "destabilisation" of its neighbourhood in some of the strongest words yet over rising tensions in Asia.

Senator Johnston backed tough words by his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, at a fiery conference in Singapore that one analyst says has hammered home growing security fears about the region.

Speaking from the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday, Senator Johnston said "the US, Australia and Japan are very concerned that unilateral action is destabilising the region of the South China Sea particularly, and East China Sea".

He added that countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines shared this concern and that this had come through in discussions at the meeting.

His comments came after Mr Hagel accused China of "destabilising, unilateral" actions - a particular reference to its recent placing of an oil rig in Vietnamese waters, prompting maritime skirmishes between the two countries.

Asked if he shared Mr Hagel's view, Senator Johnston said: "I do to the extent that it is destabilisation … in a previously very successful region that has been able to deliver enormous amounts of prosperity to countries in the Asia-Pacific.'' He added: "This instability is unwarranted and quite damaging to the future economic prospects. So I do share Secretary Hagel's concerns."

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Senator Johnston said Australia would try to persuade China there was "another path" that did not involve the risk of confrontation and escalation at sea.

He reiterated Australia's position that it did not take sides in the territorial disputes between China and its neighbours and stressed that Australia called on all sides to follow the rule of law in resolving these disputes.

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Beijing has reacted angrily to Mr Hagel's remarks and was also unsettled by Japan's announcement on Friday night that it would play a greater security role and help south-east Asian countries in disputes with China.

Sam Roggeveen, an international affairs expert at the Lowy Institute, described the meeting as a "landmark event" that brought home the degree of tension.

"It might be that we'll look back on this as a moment when we saw clearly that the great powers of Asia were moving into a period of competition and confrontation,'' he said.